


Den Mother

by CabbitAndTheWeasel



Category: Danny Phantom, Young Justice
Genre: Amethyst ocean implied, Character Study, Friendship, Ghost bias, Kidnapping, Saved from GiW, Secret Identity, Trust Issues, Tucker is a BA hacker btw and he's totally chill with it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8943358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CabbitAndTheWeasel/pseuds/CabbitAndTheWeasel
Summary: The Young Justice crew is getting a new Den Mother this month. However, instead of seeing a senior hero they have worked with before, a new hero is coming to Happy Harbor to keep Mt. Justice from devolving into teenage chaos. His name is Danny Phantom and he's only seventeen years old.Robin is suspicious.Wally is a non-believer.Superboy is jealous.Artimis and Megan are giggling.And Kaldur just wants to figure out how to keep his team intact.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I thought, hey, since it was the holidays why not just post the prologue to "Den Mother" right along with "Trigger Happy" since they both had votes. So here's two more stories for your holiday presents this year guys. Hope you enjoy the prologue!

The silence of space was never deafening. It was a peaceful silence with a backdrop of stars and planets. Danny had only ever experienced the wonder of it once before and even then it had been all business and no play. He had to stop the tech savvy Technus from taking over the world after all. But those split seconds when it was just him and he could rejoice about finally being an astronaut for at least five seconds was everything to him.

But now, here he was again, somewhere in space looking through a clear window to the blue planet itself. He wasn't exactly sure how he ended up here, but the seventeen year old knew when not to complain about the impossibly awesome. This was one of those times.

Yet, the steady throb in his back where he was bandaged and the IV drip in the crook of one elbow gave him the constant reminder he most likely wasn't here of his own free will. Someone had to have brought him here to this spaceship thing.

Was it the Guys in White? He remembered how he got the back wound; it was from the ghost hunting organization. They had caught him off guard while he was flying home after a rare, peaceful patrol in Amity Park. However, much after the recognition of pain and then darkness was where his memory ends for the most part. Everything else was blurry, he remembered a dark figure waking him up, then falling, then waking once more, here in this room with an IV hooked up to him.

Danny was impressed he had stayed in his ghost form for so long while asleep.

Lifting a hand to rub his dry, glowing eyes he sighed roughly. Glancing back to the bedside table he was at least thankful to whoever brought him here that they gave him water. Most people just sort of assumed that because of what he was he didn't need to eat.

Well, even full ghosts and halfa's have an appetite.

As he gulped down the room temperature water to sooth his dry throat the door gave a mechanical 'shwooshing' sound. Lowering the glass, the teenager turned electric green towards his mystery guest...or mystery savior, he was hazy on the details at this point.

A tall, well build man in black get-up stepped in and Danny's was sure his tired eyes became as wide as saucers as he took in the appearance of the man. There was a bat-like cowl over his eyes that hid his identity and a dramatic cape that brushed the ground. Danny's mouth opened, but nothing but a tiny squeak came out.

He knew the man.

Hell, he really would be clueless if he didn't.

Holy shit it's-

"Holy shit, you're Batman." Danny gapped in teenage wonder.

The man stopped in his approach of the bed and stared at Danny silently, Danny wasn't too sure what kind of expression he was making. But Danny could imagine the raised brow nonetheless and blushed in embarrassment.

"You've heard of me, but I can't say I'm familiar with you." The Dark Knight himself spoke and he was sure if everything wasn't in pain the halfa would be jumping on his bed in excitement. Because THE FREAKING BATMAN asked for his name. He was sure the absolute star struck expression he was making alluded to just how much he wanted to fan boy right now.

Instead, the boy just blinked up at the older hero with his starry eyed expression and processed the information. Oh my Ancients, he was asking for his name!

"I..uh, D-I mean, Phantom, sir...uh Batman sir..." he stuttered. Smooth Danny, real smooth. He must have looked like a constipated mess with how terribly he was stuck stuttering to one of his greatest hero's.

"Phantom?" he asked, crossing his arms. Danny bit his lips nervously and nodded.

"Interesting...Do you remember anything?"

"Uh...I was attacked, then I remember shortly waking up only to go back to sleep...Next thing I know, I'm waking up here-" he points to the bed. "and in space of all places!"

"You're in what's called The Watchtower, the headquarters for the Justice League. I found you in some facility in Gotham City about two days ago." Batman informed. Danny blinked again and thought hard...wait, did he say he was out for two days?

"Uh...what day is it, if I may ask?" Danny furrowed his brow. He was told and once more Danny's eyes widened, this time in horror.

"Oh...Oh crud, two weeks? I've been out of Amity for TWO WEEKS!" Danny forgot about the glass in his hands as it clattered to the floor as his hands rushed into his hair.

"Oh crud crud crud! Who knows what the ghosts have done while I was MIA! Oh crap Sam, Tucker...Jazz doesn't know where I am! I'm so going to bomb that science project that was due three days ago!"

Batman was silent as the white haired creature in front of him was lost in the midst of a freak out before clearing his throat to gain his attention. Slim shoulders flinched as the injured party looks back up sheepishly towards Batman with wide eyed worry.

"Panicking over the situation will not help anything. Can you walk?"

Quietly, Danny thought about it as he rotated his feet under their blankets before shrugging.

"Uh, dunno, probably be easier to just float right now." he admitted. Pushing the blanket off his legs and lifted off, eye level to the Gotham hero. They stared at each other for a moment too long and Danny awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. His ghostly tail twitched.

"Follow me." Batman finally said before turning back to the door, obediently, Danny followed.

It was a short trip down a hall and into an elevator up several floors. The trip was quiet and Danny for once didn't feel the need to ramble awkwardly.

Once the door open, the halfa was greeted to a large, round table with the well known hero's he's seen only in news articles on the Internet. With his mouth open in awe, he floated closely behind Batman as the other walked into the conference room, all eyes on him, many with open curiosity.

Batman pulled out a free seat from the table and motioned for Danny to sit. The teenager didn't need to be told twice and sat down immediately, looking up to Batman and worried his lip. The Dark Knight sent him another unrecognized glance before turning to his peers.

"This is Phantom, the kid I brought here a couple days ago." Batman introduced the teenager who now looked over the hero's from Superman who looked a bit uncomfortable in his presence, all the way down to Wonder Woman who furrowed her brow. He still held a clearly confused expression as he waved awkwardly towards the staring people.

"Um, hi..."

"Mind telling us what happened to you?" Superman crossed him arms in a show of authority, though not as effective as Batman, he gave the man props for trying. "In detail too if you will."

"Oh, sure...Um, where should I start?"

"How about where you came from?" A tall green man suggested impassively.

"Well, I'm from Amity Park Illinois, right before you cross into Wisconsin. It's a small town, not too flashy, hard to find unless you know where to look. Although, it's pretty well known to just about anyone who has a thing for the supernatural." Danny explained.

"Amity Park? Isn't that the town that suddenly disappeared for about a day some time three years ago?" Another hero spoke up curiously.

"We never figured out how it came back or even why so few even recall it."

"Ah, I can explain that..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "See, this friutloop I know stole some very powerful artifacts from the Ghost King Pariah Dark. Angry, Pariah attacked my home town Amity and brought it into the Ghost Zone."

"I um, took care of it. So everything is back to normal...or at least, as normal as Amity has ever been, so it's ok now."

Looking up from the ground and into the silent stares of the Justice League the teen hero blinked and looked back down subconsciously. He felt fully aware of the eyes boring into him from not only Batman who hovered near him, but the rest of the conference present.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up!" The Flash waved his hands in the air. "Ghosts? Pariah Dark? Ghost Zone? What the heck is going on, what exactly are you?"

Danny frowned and tilted his head in confusion as he stared up at Flash.

"Wasn't it obvious? If Batman found me in some kind of lab, it was the Guys in White that caught me." he told to the blank stared of the super powered adults. But when he registered their mostly blank stares he nervously twiddled his thumbs and thought about how much he should say. He didn't usually make it a habit to talk about himself.

"Uh, you know...Guys in White? Inept, supposedly secret government sanctioned organization that hunts down ghosts to force painful experimentation on them before their total inhalation." Danny continued. Batman cleared his throat and caught the attention of the stressed out teenager.

"I wasn't aware of who the lab belonged to when I started to investigate their suspicious activity, and I found you before I was able to put a name to them."

"Seriously? Aren't you supposed to be the world's greatest detective?" The frown that marred the crusaders face made Danny flinch. He slouched down and mumbled an apology. To the League he looked no different from any other Teenager that had been scolded by an authority figure.

"That doesn't really tell us what you are though and if you are a threat." Superman caught the room's attention once more. Danny recovered quickly and rolled his eyes. If the teenager recalled properly, Superman was a Kansas boy, southerners were quite in touch with their religion. He knows he can't really blame the man for any suspicions, but seriously? He hasn't done anything threatening in the least.

What was it with people and ghosts?

"Hello, ghost hunting organization, me found in their lab, I'm a ghost guys. Kinda obvious." he waved a hand over himself, his glowing eyes practically spoke the word 'duh'. The hero's at the makeshift round table stared incredulously as Danny stared back expectantly. The uncomfortable furrow in the man of steel's eyes was plain as day and it had Danny sub-consciously scoot just a tad closer to the Gotham bat to hide himself behind his cape.

Danny knew that look well, and it never meant anything good for him. And with his condition not nearly as good as it could be, he doubted if the leader of the Justice League himself ordered his capture he would only be able to keep himself intangible and out of their clutches for but a few hours.

And he really didn't want to be caught in another cage so soon after his apparent rescue.

A large, green skinned man eyed him impassively. When he caught his gaze and a strange pressure was felt at the back of his mind, the ghost boy's bright green eyes widened at the man in fear before steeling himself and glaring, eyes glowing a threatening green as he pushed the presence away and locked his mind away from anymore prying eyes.

The man had the nerve to look slightly taken aback before clearing his throat as if nothing had just happened.

"I have had no experience with earth ghost so..." Matian Man Hunter began muttering.

"Solid?" Danny suggested.

"Human." the Martian corrected with a polite smile, the teenager shrugged.

"It all depends on the type of ghost you've run across."

"Fascinating..."

"Sure, let's call it that. Look, I'm not a bad guy...despite what so many people think, I'm the good guy here. And this good guy would like to go home to Amity Park now to make sure no ghosts have caused something to explode…Or the mayor got it in his head to try and flirt with my mom while I'm gone" Danny pointed out and looked back to the Dark Knight at his side.

"Can you, I don't know...beam me down now Scottie?"

Batman looked down at the ghost with a none too pleased expression. Green eyes looked down awkwardly with a stuttering laugh.

"Right...Batman, no sense of humor."

"I can prepare you to be transported to Happy Harbor Rode Island, think you can make it home from there?" Batman asked. The teenager nodded with a please smile.

"I've had plenty of rest, thanks a lot for breaking me out and everything. But I really want to go home." He stood, legs swiftly dissolving into a wispy tail that twitched impatiently. He cast the hero's at the conference table another nervous, but shy smile before looking to Batman for guidance.

"We'll be in touch then, Phantom." Superman pursed his lips in thought at the boy's childish antics before letting the bat escort the ghostly kid to the Zeta Portals. When Batman returned with one less teenager the group at the round table looked to him expectantly.

"So...has anyone ever heard of this Phantom kid?" Flash spoke up with a raised brow. Batman walked up to the built in keyboard at his seat at the table and typed something in, a high tech, high resolution holograph screen in the center of the table flickered on and there in the center was a scene of the familiar ghost boy soaring through an unseen sky. He looked younger, but a smile was plastered on his face nonetheless.

Batman pulled up several files and news articles from over the last few years. Some of which didn't even have the white haired ghost under the same alias. The dark knights eyes studied the images the holograph projected of fourteen year old Danny Phantom being slammed into a collapsed building before he shot out and shielded a group of frightened civilians from a energy beam. Not all the civilians looked frightened by the beam more than the young hero himself.

"If he's the same Phantom that I think he is, then we may just have a new member to the league." Batman admitted with narrowed eyes. He typed something else in and the leaguers watched in fascination as the image changed to Phantom shielding an entire street of stunned bystanders from a falling billboard with some kind of energy. He looked older in the next few video's that followed, closer to whatever age he was now.

"The league? But he's got to be what, sixteen? Shouldn't we recruit him to The Team first?" Green Lantern furrowed his brow over to his friend. Batman stopped in his typing to glare across the table at the man.

"Phantom far out leagues The Team in experience and heroics if I'm being completely honest. He started showing up way before even the thought of letting our apprentices take charge of their own city became a reality. Phantom is also a protégé in his own right. There has been no information of his appearances prior to three years ago and judging by his earlier footage he was thrown into this hero business with no training what so ever. And despite that he's made a name for himself in his own corner of the world." Batman explained as the League watched in rapt fascination at several viral videos of the teenager in action.

"He's handled things we would have never let The Team handle on their own, let alone by themselves and he did so without a single casualty."

"Got to admit…kid's pretty bad ass." Green Arrow shrugged. His grin wide as holograph Phantom sent a giant ghost flying with a mean upper cut.

"And there would be nothing we can teach him…But…" Batman smirked.

"But?" Superman raised his brow unsure what his friend was thinking.

"But there is plenty our kids can learn from him. He joins the Justice League." Batman ground out with no room for argument. Superman sighed.

"Then it looks like we'll have the youngest League member ever joining us soon." Superman agreed and looked across the table for any looks that could disapprove the decision.

There were none.


End file.
